Since our honeymoon in East Africa over 3 years ago, we had always looked forward to going back for another visit, and the Okavango Delta was on the top of our wish list. We arranged the trip once and needed to cancel because of a bad excuse - work schedule - and a bad reason - the Bangkok-based representative of a well-known travel company couldn't put the trip together in time for us. We chose to work with that agent because we saw their name all over the place in East Africa. This time around, we shifted to a friend's recommendation, Asia to Africa Safaris, to arrange the trip for us.
Initially, we were concerned that coordination between Bangkok and Hong Kong (or Singapore or Manila) would make it difficult. The arrangement was handled very professionally and efficiently. And, here we are just back from a wonderful, wonderful trip!
We didn't want to believe we were going to Africa again until we were on the plane in mid April 2003. Our itinerary included three camps in the Okavango Delta / Linyanti area in Botswana: Vumbura, Duba Plains, and Savuti, followed by Cape Town. Three nights in each destination made it a 2-week trip.
Our first camp, Vumbura was great. A very good place to start a journey. It is not as dusty as other camps. Most important, Rodger and Margie, the camp managers took such good care of the guests and really made us feel at home there. Facility wise, it was the most basic (hot water only runs at a certain time, when we were there the pool was out of commission, etc.) but it didn't matter so much because we needed to rest and sleep in the first few afternoons, after such a long journey from Bangkok via Jo-burg and Maun.
Game was plentiful. Sable antelope is such a graceful animal, rare to see and unique to this area. We spent one morning with a pride of lions which later on hunted and killed a young buffalo. Baboons, hippo (much bigger that what we saw in Ngorongoro Crater), hyena are among so many other things to see there. Vumbura was also the only camp in our itinerary that offered dugout canoe or mokoro rides. We spent one morning in a mokoro, looking at red lechwe, water lilies and at the unique delta vegetation - a must-do as the experience is completely different from the driving safaris. Also amazing how leaf frogs can be so beautiful and cute.
Our next camp, Duba Plains, is a very special place. It's only a 3-minute plane ride or 1.5 hour drive from Vumbura but the landscape is quite different.
Duba was included in the itinerary as a result of our request to see some action. It was quite frustrating in East Africa where we saw loads and loads of animals, but when something happened such as a hunt and kill, we couldn't go off road to witness it. This is something great about Botswana, it allows travelers to really live the bush experience (albeit under luxurious living and eating conditions which we took for granted). Guides can drive off road in Botswana and we think Duba is the place where one can benefit most from the flexibility and freedom to roam.
Lions took down four buffalos while we stayed at Duba. Seeing the real hunt and kill up close is such an experience. Nothing can prepare anyone for that. Our fantastic photos can best explain our experience there. What also made our Duba experience so special were (i.) a highly capable guide James 007 (which made a major difference, particularly since the hunts we saw were initially so confusing - that's how good the lions were.), (ii.) the camp manager, James Rawdon's knowledge on lions and the unique lion social structure and (iii.) the camp is blessed by 4 lions prides and their active daytime hunts. Duba has a limited variety of game but each type of animal there is seen in large numbers.
Our third camp, Savuti was OK. Spoiled travelers that we were, our expectations, hopes and demands grew each time we saw something during the trip. As Savuti was our last stop, our rating for Savuti can be unfair in that sense.
Generally it is a well-run camp and we were fortunate to have a good, young, enthusiastic guide there. If you are elephant lovers, this is the place to go - elephants loiter right in front of your tent. We were impressed by gigantic elephants with long beautiful tusks in Tanzania, but around the Savuti area the ellies have a lack of calcium and some don't even have tusks. However, they make up for it by being more aggressive - we were charged 3 times in Savuti by ellies. We had a wonderful afternoon drive where we saw leopard, aardwolf and 3 lion cubs left in the open area. But things went rather quiet after that.
March and April are good months to visit Cape Town. We had a great time there seeing seals, penguins, the Cape of Good Hope, etc. We are also fans of South African wine so that added to the enjoyment.
All in all, we had a wonderful trip to Africa thanks to Asia to Africa Safaris' arrangements. Africa is not new to us, but A to A's recommendations on the ideal combination of camps, guides, and itinerary to meet our vacation wish-list made all the difference. A to A's experience and knowledge became apparent during our trip, and made them the perfect Africa "guide" for us.
It was also our first time to stay at Wilderness Safaris' Camps. The service and facilities were consistently very good. We enjoyed our stay and especially appreciate the good things that Wilderness has done for the communities in Botswana - their employees speak highly of the company. One of the things that differentiated this trip from our previous one was the positive testimonials about Wilderness Safaris from their employees and the communities.
Great job and keep up the good work
